Like Costa Rica, Panama abolished her army by constitutional mandate.
The crackdown lasted for three days and proved so unpopular with Panamanians, that Martinelli was forced into negotiations with the Ngabe.” At least two people were killed and many more were injured. Harrowing reports surfaced of rapes and the mistreatment of detainees, as scores of Ngabe men, women and children were arrested. “The police, who human rights observers say have become increasingly militarised since Martinelli became president three years ago, launched a vicious crackdown, cutting communications with the outside world, and allegedly shooting innocent bystanders as well as peaceful protesters.
Reporting on the events surrounding that demonstration, Glen Ellis wrote: In late March, a reporter and filmmaker from Al Jazeera traveled to Panama to talk to members of the Ngabe indigenous people (also indigenous to Costa Rica) who were abused by police earlier this year during a demonstration in which they blocked government efforts to build a hydroelectric project on their land. No charges were filed against the doctor until he went public with this complaint. In 2011, a doctor complained that several members of the National Police Force in Panama beat him up and caused him severe injuries because he talked back at them during a roadblock. Press corps and witnesses reported 10 people killed by government security forces, but public officials reported only 2. In 2010, Human Rights Watch condemned the actions of Panamanian riot police responding to a workers strike in Bocas del Toro. Allegations of brutality, violence and corruption have clouded the Panamanian security forces in the last few years in the meantime, crimes are constantly reported by the people and the media but downplayed by public officials. The citizens of Panama and human rights organizations are concerned at the increasing civil rights violations by police units in that country. The Questionable Track Record of Security Forces in Panama They doubt the integrity of the police and coroner’s report, and they also point out that there may be sovereignty issues at hand since no Tico authorities were called in.ĭon Roger Soto leaves behind a widow and three daughters, aged 4, 6 and 12. Relatives of the deceased were not allowed to identify the body until yesterday, five days after he was killed by Panamanian police. If the bait car did not cross the border into Costa Rica, the DIJ agents would have no evidence that Soto was involved in an international car theft ring.ĭon Alvaro Soto is calling on Tico authorities to investigate the matter. We were also told that he was on Costa Rican soil when he was shot.” We want to know why he was hot, when on that day he was called to repair a disabled vehicle on the side of the highway. “What we really want is to clear things up.
The brother of the deceased, Alvaro Soto, is demanding an investigation into the circumstances of Roger’s death at the hands of the Panamanian authorities. Soto traveled alone, since another Tico was arrested at that location and two unknown men fled the scene. The information released by the DIJ in Panama on the incident has been murky thus far. Soto to the Pablo Espinoza clinic in the community of Concepcion, but he died from his wounds before reaching the emergency room. Paramedics from the town of Bugaba rushed Mr. At that point the agent pulled out a handgun and shot the Tico auto mechanic at point blank. Soto demanded that the agent leave the car and began to forcibly remove him from the vehicle. Soto drove in the bait car towards the border crossing point int Paso Canoas, the undercover agent from Panama identified himself and told the agent to stop the car. The passenger was an undercover DIJ member anxious to make an arrest.Īs Mr. Soto was called by the undercover agents to cross the border into Panama and drive a bait car and a passenger into Costa Rica. Citing sources familiar with the investigation, Mr. Online news daily Next Panama had more details about the incident. A prior investigation alleged that an international car theft ring operated in Panama and was engaged in smuggling stolen vehicles into Costa Rica. Newspaper El Siglo reported that undercover policemen from the Chiriqui region of Panama were conducting a sting operation in the border region of Paso Canoas when Mr. Roger Soto Zotela, a 35-year Costa Rican citizen, was shot and killed by an undercover agent of Panama’s Direction of Judicial Investigations (Spanish acronym: DIJ) last Wednesday, according to news sources in that country. Panama Police Trains with US Special Forces.
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